One Title Worth Pointing Out

Bruins edge Robinson by one point at Northern Region indoor track finals.

Members of the Lake Braddock girls’ indoor track team pose with the 2010 Northern Region championship trophy.

Lake Braddock runner Sophie Chase has been under pressure to perform this season. But, at the Northern Region indoor track championship on Feb. 20, she ran with the weight of the Bruins' region title hopes on her shoulders.

"Before the race, I heard we were behind Robinson by a couple of points," she said. "I knew I was going to have to win [my 3,200-meter race] if we wanted to win regionals."

Along with the added pressure of her race determining who would win the title, she battled fatigue from races throughout the day.

"Going into the race, I was tired," she said. "I had just run my 1,600-meter race an hour earlier."

Chase is only a freshman, but her inexperience in the high school ranks didn't shake her confidence. She knew how to handle the race's long distance and the boisterous crowd.

"When I get on the starting line everything goes out of my mind," she said. "I just concentrate on what I have to do. I barely hear anyone screaming. I just get on the line and go."

Just as she surprised her team with clutch performances during the cross-country season, Chase came up big again, finishing first in the 3,200-meter. She also finished first in her earlier 1,600-meter race.

Lake Braddock went on to defeat Robinson by one point, 76-75 for the girls' indoor track region title.

In head coach Mike Mangan's office, trophies of past championship teams line the walls. With so many, Mangan admitted it's hard to keep track of the storylines behind each one.